1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to restraint devices and systems, and more particularly to a seat belt extender which serves to displace the seat belt and shoulder harness connection toward the center of the lap of the wearer in an otherwise conventional seat belt and shoulder harness assembly. The present extender is formed of a relatively short length of material having limited flexibility in order to provide sufficient stiffness to enable attachment using only one hand, yet provides sufficient flexibility to conform to the side of the occupant seat and the hip of a person using the device when the belt and shoulder harness system is secured across the person.
2. Description of the Related Art
Occupant restraint systems installed in automobiles and most light aircraft have evolved to have a three point configuration comprising a two part seat belt assembly with one belt shorter than the other and the two belts latching near one hip of the occupant, with a shoulder strap which passes diagonally across the trunk of the wearer to secure at the seat belt latch assembly. This arrangement is nearly universal in such vehicles, and normally provides adequate restraint and is relatively economical to manufacture and install. With its single latch tongue for the longer seat belt end and the lower end of the shoulder strap joined thereto and the single short seat belt length with its latch receptacle, this three-point anchor configuration is al so easily latched by a person having normal physical dexterity.
It is a different matter for persons having limited flexibility in their upper bodies, e.g. those suffering from shoulder tendonitis or having recent rotator cuff surgery, and/or having an arm in a sling. The conventional three point belt and harness system described above requires the user to turn or twist at least slightly toward the laterally offset female receptacle of the assembly in order to insert the male tongue of the longer belt end and attached shoulder strap. This also requires that the occupant reach across his or her body with the hand grasping the belt and harness latch tongue to insert the latch tongue into the offset receptacle at one side of the occupant. While such an action is not a problem for a person with normal mobility, it can be agonizing, or perhaps impossible, for a person suffering from arthritis, bursitis, tendonitis, rotator cuff inflammation, or various other ailments which limit arm and shoulder mobility.
Many women also experience difficulty with such conventional three point restraint systems. Such restraint systems have generally been developed around the upper body configuration of the average adult male, and often do not fit persons who are outside of this average. Many women have found that when such conventional seat belt and shoulder harness systems are secured conventionally, the shoulder strap passes over or across the inboard breast, i.e. the left breast of a woman seated in the right seat of a vehicle. This is uncomfortable at the least, and could lead to further injuries in the event of an accident. As a result, many women have resorted to impromptu adjustments, such as twisting the joined ends of the longer seat belt portion and its attached shoulder harness to wrap the shoulder harness about the belt and displace its juncture with the belt away from the buckle, before inserting the latch tongue into the anchor receptacle. In fact, the relevant art shows various devices which may be used to move the belt and shoulder harness connection farther from the short seat belt anchor end, but they do nothing to assist a handicapped person to fasten his or her belt.
Accordingly, a need will be seen for a seat belt extender which secures removably to the female receptacle at the free end of the conventional short seat belt and shoulder harness anchor, and which provides for the attachment of the male latch tongue extending from the longer seat belt and shoulder harness assembly. The present seat belt extender comprises a length of material having limited flexibility, with a male latch tongue on one end and a female receptacle on the opposite end. The stiff, but non-rigid body of the extender provides sufficient stiffness to hold the end of the device in place for an occupant to apply the male tongue using only one hand and sufficient length to displace the buckle assembly toward the center of the body of the occupant, yet provides sufficient flexibility to conform to the occupant's body when installed.
A discussion of the related art of which the present inventor is aware, and its differences and distinctions from the present invention, is provided below.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,408,373 issued on Oct. 11, 1983 to John S. Miskowicz, titled “Buckle With Integral Push Button Spring And Reaction Portions,” describes a female receptacle or buckle having what is presently considered to be a generally conventional configuration. Miskowicz does not disclose any form of belt and harness assembly with which his buckle may be used. However, he does show a slot in his buckle, opposite the receptacle for the male tongue of a seat belt or the like, which is intended for the installation of a belt or webbing therethrough. This arrangement is relatively flaccid, and cannot hold the buckle upright in a semi-rigid installation, as does the present seat belt extender.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,610,463 issued on Sep. 9, 1986 to Harriet Efrom, titled “Protection Assembly For Abdominal Area,” describes a relatively rigid shell which is configured to fit over the abdomen of a pregnant woman. The shell includes a series of hooks or guides extending therefrom, to secure an existing conventional seat belt therein. However, Efrom does not disclose any form of extender for the existing belt assembly, in order to facilitate securing the belt and/or to move the attachment point between the longer belt and shoulder harness assembly and the shorter anchor section, closer to the center of the body of the occupant.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,699,401 issued on Oct. 13, 1987 to Raul C. Saenz, titled “Removable Seat Belt Cover,” describes a cover or sheath configured for removably placing about the shoulder strap of a conventional three-point seat belt and shoulder harness assembly. The Saenz belt cover does not actually engage the seat or lap belt portion of the assembly, and does nothing to alter or adjust the relative location of the buckle of the assembly when the various belts and straps are secured together during use.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,758,048 issued on Jul. 19, 1988 to Raymond L. Shuman, titled “Attachment Clip For Web Type Belts,” describes a series of metal clips which are installed along the three conventional portions of a three-point belt and harness system. These clips are permanently installed by disassembling the conventional belt webbing from their hardware and passing the webbing through passages in the clip, and then reinstalling the webbing straps to their anchor or attachment points. The Shuman clips are used to attach additional flaccid webbing straps to form an overlying three point harness system, for securing a small child or the like to the front of the conventional three point harness system when an adult guardian is secured therein. Thus, the Shuman system does nothing to relocate the attachment buckle for the existing seat belt and shoulder harness assembly nor to provide an upstanding anchor point extension, as provided by the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,080,396 issued on Jan. 14, 1992 to Sam D. Vacanti, titled “Clip Device For Seat Belts,” describes a device having two opposed flat hooks joined by an adjustable length tether. One of the hooks secures to the longer lap belt portion of a conventional three-point seat belt and shoulder harness assembly, while the opposite hook secures to the shoulder harness strap essentially directly above the lap belt hook. The Vacanti device is intended to adjust the position of the shoulder strap by drawing the strap downwardly, thereby adjusting its position across the chest of the occupant. While this device may improve the comfort of a person using the system, particularly women, it does nothing to move the position of the three-point latch assembly, and nothing to reposition the latch assembly for easier access by a person with limited upper mobility, as provided by the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,080,441 issued on Jan. 14, 1992 to Jennifer L. Stevenson et al., titled “Safety Seat For A Child For Airplane Use,” describes a padded bolster which is placed across the lap of the child, with the conventional two-point seat belt assembly being secured across the bolster. The bolster includes a pair of generally vertical straps extending therefrom, which secure between the legs and extend rearwardly up and over the shoulders of the child, passing in front of the upper body of the child to secure to the top of the bolster. The Stevenson et al. bolster and harness assembly does nothing to change the latch position of the lap belt, which is generally disposed centrally across the lap of the occupant in such a two-point belt system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,135,257 issued on Aug. 4, 1992 to Thomas T. Short, titled “Adjustable Breakaway Seat Belt Shoulder Harness Comfort Strap,” describes a strap which attaches to the lap belt and extends to draw down the shoulder strap of a conventional three-point harness system. The Short device thus functions essentially identically to the device of the Vacanti '396 U.S. Patent discussed further above and has the same limitation, i.e., it does nothing to change the latch position for the three-point assembly to facilitate latching by persons having limited mobility.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,215,333 issued on Jun. 1, 1993 to Candice T. Knight, titled “Seat Belt Adjustment Band,” describes a sleeve which wraps about the combined longer seat belt portion and shoulder strap attached thereto at the buckle, to draw the two straps together at some distance from the buckle. This has the effect of causing the shoulder strap to join the lap belt at some distance from the latch or buckle assembly, thus positioning the effective end of the shoulder strap closer to the center of the body of the occupant. A review of FIGS. 1 and 2 of the Knight patent clearly shows the advantage of repositioning the location of the shoulder strap across the upper body of the occupant, particularly in the case of a female occupant. However, the Knight device does nothing to relocate the attachment end of the seat belt and shoulder harness assembly to facilitate latching the assembly by a person having limited upper body flexibility. The present invention not only serves to adjust the position of the seat belt and shoulder harness juncture to provide the advantages of the Knight device and others noted further above, but also relocates the attachment point for the seat belt and shoulder harness assembly to facilitate attachment of the assembly to the anchor end.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,248,187 issued on Sep. 28, 1993 to Rick G. Harrison, titled “Seat Belt Extension Apparatus,” describes an extension length comprising a flaccid web having a male and a female buckle or latch component on opposite ends. Harrison provides various accessories which may be secured to his belt extension, such as a pad, bill or change holders for tolls, and an audible device for maintaining driver alertness. However, the belt extension is a flexible, flaccid length of webbing material in each case. Such a flexible component cannot stand on its own after being connected to the short central anchor length of the three-point harness assembly. This limited flexibility of the present seat belt extender is absolutely critical to its function, as it holds the female receptacle of the extender in an upright position for ease of connecting the male tongue of the conventional belt and shoulder harness thereto, using only one hand if so required. Yet, the present extender has sufficient flexibility to conform to the side of the seat and/or the hip of the occupant, to allow the lap belt to lie directly across the lap of the occupant rather than being held away from the occupant's lap.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,570,933 issued on Nov. 5, 1996 to Stephen J. Rouhana et al., titled “Lap-Shoulder Belt Extender,” describes an extension assembly having both a seat belt extender portion and a shoulder harness extender portion. Both portions are formed of a flaccid webbing material essentially identical to conventional seat belt and shoulder harness webbing material. Rouhana et al. recognize the relocation of the shoulder harness and seat belt juncture when using an extension with a three-point harness system, but provide a shoulder harness extension which extends from the shoulder harness to the short anchor end of the seat belt and harness assembly. This shoulder harness extension is secured to the original shoulder strap by an attachment means which is relatively difficult and cumbersome to attach and remove. The Rouhana et al. system is thus intended to remain in place on the existing lap belt and shoulder harness assembly and to be latched and released at the original short anchor end of the three point assembly, rather than being more or less permanently left in place attached to the anchor end and using the conventional lap belt and shoulder harness tongue for attachment and release from the extension, as in the present invention. In any event, the flaccid nature of the webbing of the Rouhana extension does not permit it to be used as a freestanding attachment, as is the case with the present extension.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,620,231 issued on Apr. 15, 1997 to Duane L. Marker et al., titled “Seat Belt Threader Assembly For Child Safety Seats,” describes various embodiments of a device intended for threading through the attachment points of a child safety seat, attaching to the end of a conventional seat belt, and drawing the belt through the child seat anchor points to facilitate installation of the child seat in a vehicle. The Marker et al. device has a rigid handle in each embodiment, with at least one embodiment having a rigid extension portion. However, the Marker et al. device cannot be secured to the existing seat belt system for restraining an occupant in the vehicle, as none of the embodiments include both male and female latch members at opposite ends of the device.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,788,282 issued on Aug. 4, 1998 to Donald J. Lewis, titled “Safety Belt Adaptor For Belt Adjustment For Vehicle Occupants And Method Of Operation,” describes a belt extender formed of conventional flaccid fabric webbing material or the like, and having a male and a female latch component on opposite ends. The Lewis device has to be formed of a relatively flexible material, to allow the material to be gathered and adjusted to adjust the length of the device. Thus, the Lewis extender is not free standing, and cannot be used to facilitate the securing of the conventional lap belt and shoulder harness assembly thereto by an occupant having limited shoulder, arm, and/or upper body mobility.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,795,030 issued on Aug. 18, 1998 to Karl W. Becker, titled “Abdomen-Protective Adapter For Seat Belts,” describes two different embodiments of such an adapter. The first embodiment secures between the existing ends of a two-point lap belt assembly, but does not address the attachment of a shoulder harness strap thereto. While one end of the belt assembly may have a shoulder harness strap attached thereto, the flaccid nature of the padded construction of the Becker device precludes its use as a standup seat belt anchor extension, as provided by the present invention. The three point belt and harness attachment embodiment of the Becker adapter has edges which merely wrap around the existing seat belt and shoulder harness straps, and has no buckle or latch components for attachment between the existing latch and buckle components of the conventional three point harness system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,656 issued on Nov. 17, 1998 to Ronald M. Baggott, titled “Child Restraint,” describes a seat belt extender having a child harness comprising a waist band and a crotch strap attached to the front thereof. The Baggott child restraint is intended for airline type seat belt assemblies where the two belt attachment ends meet approximately in the center of the lap of the occupant. The Baggott restraint cannot be used successfully in a three point system with its laterally offset latch assembly, as the child restraint would be positioned over one hip of the occupant, rather than centered on the occupant's lap. In any event, the flaccid webbing used for the extender portion of the Baggott restraint harness cannot provide the free standing structure to facilitate one handed attachment of a seat belt and shoulder harness latch assembly, as can the present seat belt extender invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,312,015 issued on Nov. 6, 2001 to David D. Merrick et al., titled “Clamp For Retractor Belt,” describes various embodiments of a device including a permanently installed track adjacent the anchor end of the shoulder harness strap, and a clamp which selectively locks the shoulder harness strap to the track. The Merrick et al. device is intended to provide some slack in the shoulder harness for greater comfort of the occupant, to relieve the tension produced by the conventional tensioner device at the anchor end of the shoulder harness strap. The Merrick device does nothing to adjust the attachment point of the combined seat belt and shoulder harness to the shorter anchor end of the three point assembly, as provided by the present seat belt extender invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,343,841 issued on Feb. 5, 2002 to Robert W. Gregg et al., titled “Seat Belt Extension,” describes a relatively short extension formed of flaccid webbing material and having a male and a female latch portion on opposite ends thereof. An elongate pocket is provided on the surface of the extension web, for the insertion of a resiliently flexible sheet of material therein. The intent of the Gregg et al. seat belt extension and its flexible insert is to prevent the twisting of the extension, thereby causing it to lie flat while in use for greater comfort of the occupant. However, the pocket with its insert does not extend to each latch component at the opposite ends thereof, in order to hold them in alignment with the rest of the insert. The male tongue portion extends from the flaccid end of the insert, and is free to swing back and forth. This is even more true of the female latch component, which is secured to the webbing material by a loop of webbing material which passes through a corresponding passage in the attachment portion of the female latch. Thus, the female latch is free to swing back and forth due to the loose attachment of the webbing loop thereto. This arrangement cannot hold the female latch receptacle upright to allow the existing male latch component of the seat belt and shoulder harness assembly to be inserted therein using only one hand by a person having limited mobility; the female latch receptacle of the Gregg et al. extension, would have to be held upright using one hand, while the other hand is used to insert the male tongue into the female receptacle. This is not true of the present invention, which provides sufficient rigidity to hold the female receptacle of the extension in an upright position, where the male tongue of the seat belt and shoulder harness can be inserted therein without need to hold the female receptacle.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2002/38,809 published on Apr. 4, 2002 to Daniel D. L. Thibodeau et al., titled “Backup Buckle For A Seat Belt,” describes an extender comprising an elongate, rigid length of material having male and female attachment components on opposite ends thereof. The Thibodeau device can be secured between the existing short anchor receptacle and the longer seat belt and shoulder harness attachment tongue of an existing belt and shoulder harness assembly, to provide an alternate release point in an emergency. Thibodeau states that his device is sufficiently rigid and massive so as to be useful as a striking tool and/or pry bar (page 3, paragraph 43). Thus, while the Thibodeau device has sufficient rigidity to stand upright when latched to the short anchor section of the restraint assembly, it cannot bend or flex to conform to the curvature of the side of a vehicle seat and/or the hip of an occupant seated in the seat, as can the present seat belt extender. Such a hard, rigid construction may result in serious injury to an occupant in the event of an accident, due to the non-yielding structure of the Thibodeau extension.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,520,392 issued on Feb. 18, 2003 to Daniel D. L. Thibodeau, titled “Backup Buckle For A Seat Belt,” is the issued patent resulting from the application of the above described '809 U.S. Patent Publication to the same inventor. The same points noted in that discussion are seen to apply here as well.
U.S. Des. Pat. No. 352,591 issued on Nov. 22, 1994 to Edgar Laney, titled “Extendable Auto Safety Belt Accessory,” illustrates a design apparently comprising a flaccid webbing strap with a male latch tongue at one end and a female receptacle at the opposite end. As such, the Laney design appears to be more closely related to the seat belt extender of the Lewis '282 U.S. Patent discussed further above, than to the present invention with its limited flexibility.
Finally, German Patent Publication No. 3,342,594 published on Jun. 5, 1985, titled “Fastening Of A Child-Safety Device To A Seat Of A Motor Vehicle,” describes (according to the drawings and English abstract) a child safety seat having a lap belt extending thereacross. A supplemental male tongue is removably secured to the conventional seat belt and shoulder harness pair, with the seat belt of the child seat securing to this temporarily installed tongue and to the opposite anchor receptacle of the restraint system. While an extension belt is provided with the device of the '594 German Patent Publication, it is a flaccid, flexible belt which passes through the structure of the associated child safety seat. No semi-rigid extension having limited flexibility and providing single hand latching of the male tongue component to the female receptacle of the extension is disclosed in the '594 German Patent Publication, nor in any other disclosure of which the present inventors are aware.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus a seat belt extender solving the aforementioned problems is desired.